USA vs. Mexico: 5 Things We Learned from America's 1st Victory at Azteca

For the past 75 years, the U.S. has lost to Mexico in the country south of the border. No more.

Apparently, the 25th time's the charm for the Stars and Stripes, as the United States scrapped to a 1-0 victory over Mexico at the Azteca.

The victory is easily the biggest moment in the Jurgen Klinsmann era thus far and one of the biggest in the history of the national team.

For Mexico, the loss ends a nice run that had seen the team building massive momentum.

So how did the result come to be, and how will it affect these two nations in the future?

Here are the five things we learned from the friendly between the USA and Mexico.

Tim Howard Is a Match-Winner

Perhaps a lot of people didn't just learn this, but anyone who doubted it certainly learned it.

Howard played incredibly, making at least two phenomenal saves to preserve the victory.

The keeper's second save, which was a reaction save to a Chicharito header where he both batted the ball with his hand and had the wherewithal to kick it clear off the line, was the better of the two.

Howard's performance suggests he may be a player to watch in the Premier League as he helps Everton over the course of the upcoming season.

Mexico Missed Young Olympic Talent

Some of Mexico's best players celebrated their Olympic gold medals at halftime of the match, but none of those players saw playing time in the match.

El Tri certainly had more than capable players, but just couldn't find the back of the net.

In last year's friendly between Mexico and the USA in Philadelphia, which ended 1-1, Mexico's only goal came from Oribe Peralta, the scorer of the two goals in the gold-medal match against Brazil.

Clearly, Mexico could have played better with Peralta and a few other Olympic players in the lineup.

Brek Shea Can Be a Difference-Maker Against Any Nation

Brek Shea's performance in the final 13 minutes of the match was all you can ask for from a substitute.

The 22-year-old created the goal that won the match, nutmegging a defender on his way to the box and pushing a nice cross over to Terrence Boyd.

After such a performance, Shea proved he can be a difference-maker in any match, a good reminder of his potential after the year he has had.

Expect Brek to be featured regularly for the United States from here on out.

USA Defense to Be Reckoned With

The USA defense may have let two good opportunities through on Tim Howard, but it was valiant through much of the match. This stingy defense is something USA fans should be getting used to.

In the 16 matches under Jurgen Klinsmann, the United States have had five shutouts, allowed more than one goal on only two occasions and averaged less than a goal conceded per match.

Hopefully the U.S. can keep this trend going.

Gap (Somewhat) Bridged, Rivalry Back On

Coming into Wednesday's match, much of the talk surrounding the USA-Mexico rivalry was of "the gap" between the two national teams.

The rivalry was ignited about 12 years ago, when the United States began a run of victories over Mexico that included beating El Tri in the 2002 World Cup Round of 16.

Over the past few years, though, the Mexicans have been on their own good run, winning the past two Gold Cup finals in impressive fashion.

With their first victory over Mexico, though, the Americans have taken away one of the most daunting statistics of the rivalry and bridged the gap a bit.

If the Mexicans had thought the U.S. was capable of defeating them in their home, they would not have signed on for this friendly ahead of next season's World Cup qualifiers.

Now that the Americans have proved themselves able, this rivalry has the potential to heat up over the course of the next year.

This could be the start of an exciting time for USA and Mexican football.

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